Animal companions

Preview

1. Next use of animals we'll discuss: biomedical research (Fri & Mon)
2. Reading just first 12 pages of Singer's 75 page chapter, but will discuss more Fri
3. Paper plan is due Friday

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Gary Francione & Anna Charlton, "The Case Against Pets" (Aeon)

• What's his ethical framework?
• What is he saying about pets?

Will get into groups later

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Complaints about Peter Singer

1. Singer--supports reforms of factory farming--based on equal consideration of interests, utilitarianism--not rights
2. Francione--supports rights for animals
• a right is a "shield" protecting an animal's fundamental interests; a right "protects interests irrespective of consequences"
• animals have "a moral right not to be used as resources, irrespective of whether the treatment is 'humane'..." 

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One primary right

• "the right not to be property" (F&C p. 3)
• being treated as property is the root cause of all ill-treatment
• we have some animal protection laws, but they are ineffective (next time we'll be looking at these laws)
• you can ask vet to euthanize a healthy animal you own
• animal farming practices incentivized by ownership

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Conventional wisdom

• You could reach some of the same conclusions from a simple, obvious premise
• "We should not impose unnecessary suffering and death on animals"
• Many people believe that when thinking about dog fighting (Michael Vick), bull fighting, maybe rodeos, etc. but....
  
  
  
  
  

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The argument so far

• All animals have the right not to be property, we should stop exploiting animals
• People who agree: Tom Regan, Donaldson & Kymlicka
• D&K: pets and former livestock should become citizens

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No more domesticated animals!

Need to understand domestication better....

Wikipedia definition

• "Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans...takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep...to obtain from them a steady supply of resources, such as meat, milk, or labor.  The process is gradual and geographically diffuse... Domestication affected genes for behavior in animals, making them less aggressive...Such changes both make domesticated organisms easier to handle and reduce their ability to survive in the wild... not to be confused with taming."

•  Examples --  here  -- video
• the grey wolf (canis lupus) --> dogs (canis lupus familiaris) 
• domesticated 14,000 years ago
• African wild cats (felis sylvestris lybica) --> house cats (felis sylvestris catus)
•  domesticated 10,000 years ago
• Not domestication
• Keeping a wild animal in captivity
• Taming a wild animal
• breeding

NYT article

  

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Impoverished 

• Because of the way they ARE, not just because of the way we TREAT them

F&C p. 12

• wild ancestors of cats and dogs: self-sufficient, skilled, fearful, avoid humans
• domesticated animals: docile, helpless, dependent, don't fear humans, can "read" humans, want our attention and praise, love us, can be obedient, like perpetual children

Would you rather be reborn as a wolf or a chihuahua?

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Pet action plan

• adopt, protect, animals who already exist--stop treating like property
• support sanctuaries for farm animals: P'nuts animal sanctuary, Copilot animal rescue
• don't breed more, spay and neuter
  

  

  D&K's goal

  

  F&C's goal

  
  
  
  
  

Meat eating, fair/rodeo

Preview

1. Wednesday--Gary Francione: should we have pets? -- but article covers many other topics
2. Friday--paper plan is due

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Defenses of meat eating

Fair/rodeo are offshoots of ranching, animal farming....so now's a good time to discuss.

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Bernard Rollin, "Rodeo and Recollection"

• Rollin--ethicist at Colorado State University, teaches future veterinarians, ranchers, cowboys
• Western ranch culture, rodeo as symbol of the west, critics seen as outsiders
• Culture doesn't insulate from criticism
• How to talk ethics with cowboys? Respect, recollection
• Particular rodeo events he objects to--tie down roping, should replace with break away roping

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Fair Topics

Question for everyone. A lot of western culture and Texas culture is on display at the fair. Did you observe it as an insider or an outsider?

1. Rodeo
•  Rodeo events 
•  Tie down roping
• Break away roping
2. Other animal sports
• pig racing
• sheep dog herding
• other
3. Judging of livestock
4. Animal farming practices
• the birthing barn
• cow milking
• sheep shearing
• etc.
5. Exotic animal petting zoo
• kangaroos
6. Other observations?

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Why is this shown at the fair?

1. Animal advocates have been making undercover videos for years--they think transparency will change your mind, change the industry
2. Animal industry--tried to stop this for years, (ag gag laws) but now are turning to transparency as a weapon

Debate 4: Is humane farming good for animals?

Fair presentations Monday--read all instructions! 

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DEBATE: "Humane farming is good for animals, on the whole" (agree or disagree)-- clarification

1. This is not just saying humane farming is better than factory farming
2.  It's saying humane farming is positively good for animals--as Zangwill says
3. We're doing animals a favor by creating-then-killing-and-eating them on humane farms

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Humane farming is good for animals (AGREE): ideas, allies

1. Zangwill's existence argument-- slides
• being created is good for sheep, outweighs being killed
• sheep don't have rights, so it's against their interests to be killed but not a rights violation
2. "no rights" ally: Carruthers
3. non-animalist concern: bible, Aristotle
4. animals have only a weak interest in continuing to live: McMahan

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Humane farming is good for animals (DISAGREE/DOUBT): ideas, allies

1. Animals do have rights -- Regan
2. Livestock killed very young, when they have a stronger TRICL (McMahan)
3. Even humane farming involves some pain and distress
4. Humane farming takes a lot of land, encroaches on wild animal habitats, resulting in fewer wild animals; so, good for sheep, bad for wolves and lions!

• What would Zangwill say?  p. 5-6: it's good to replace wild animals with livestock because wild animals have more miserable lives.
• Vegan world: would require less agriculture land and leave more wilderness, more wild animals (see Singer p. 184)

 

The existence argument

Budolfson follow-ups:

1. He does not think we lack efficacy all the time--this has to do with the meat and supermarket industry
2. He does not think we lack efficacy when voting!
3. He says some products are "essentially bad" so should be avoided even if we can't make a difference. Suppose cocoamone were factory farmed on a large scale.
4. The next argument we look at implicitly assumes we CAN make a difference.

Eating animals slides

Zangwill, annotated

Debate Friday--which question splits the class?

1. "If you care about animals you should eat them." (Zangwill) Agree, disagree
2. Carnivores are the "natural friends" of animals. (Zangwill) Agree, disagree
3. On the whole, humane farming is good for animals. Agree, disagree
4. Ethically, the best diet is "conscientious omnivore." Agree, disagree

The causal inefficacy defense

 AGENDA

1. Two more vegan field trips
2. Fair field trips next Monday--use field trip instructions
3. Paper assignment
4. Defenses of meat-eating: slides
5. Budolfson article
6. Return midterms--read comments and key

Food choices

Arguments against consuming animal products

1. Tom Regan--it's all rights-violating doesn't matter how it's done
2. Alastair Norcross--the Fred argument; you can make a difference 
3. Singer
• principle of equality--which option must we choose in table below?
• you can make a difference
• changing your diet makes you part of a boycott

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Food choices

1. Standard American Diet
2. Budding conscientious omnivore--switch to a few more-humane products (what should your priorities be?)
3. Reducetarian--Meatless Mondays, "vegan before 6" -- Reducetarian Conference this weekend
4. Conscientious omnivore--no factory farmed animal products 
5. Vegetarian--no meat
6. Vegan/full Vegetarian-no animal products at all

Singer--Better, better, best

Zangwill (next week) -- not just may, but should stop at conscientious omnivore

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DISCUSSION

Choosing humane products (at Whole Foods and other places)

• availability
• costs

Choosing vegan food

• availability
• costs
• health
• taste

Against meat

 Announcements:

1. Class on Nov. 25 cancelled. 
• Schedule changed so that debate 5 is on Nov 20 and RR28 is due Nov. 22.  
2. Reading assignment and RR for Friday modified a bit. 
3. Our first field trip discussion is Friday. Make sure you read the field trip instructions. 
4. On Monday we will discuss the paper assignment.

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Eating Animals Slides

Norcross at Perusall 

The whole article

Workbook (right column)

Animals as Food (factory farming)

Module 3: Using animals

• as food
• as pets
• in research

Statistics

• About 10 billion land animals die annually in food production in the US
• 218 million are killed by hunters, in animal shelters, research, product testing, dissection, and fur farms (2% of total killed)
• More numbers

Methods

1. Factory farming--animals raised and processed in factory-like conditions--most animal products in the US
2. Reforms & humane farming (separate post)

Foods (below)

• Pork, ham, bacon
• Beef
• Dairy
• Chicken
• Eggs

What about....veal, lamb, foie gras, seafood...look up in Singer's chapter and index

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FACTORY FARMING

Pigs (for pork, ham, bacon)

Animal welfare issues

1. crowding (see image below and video)
2. tail-docking -- notice that the pigs in the pictures below have no tails! 
3. ammonia fumes, no straw
4. short lives (life cycle of a market pig) -- 6 months (vs. 15-20 yrs)
5. pregnancy

• artificial insemination 
• sow crates (for pregnant pigs) -- 114 days
• farrowing crates (for birthing and lactating pigs) -- 21 days
• sow impregnanted again 

Hog farm images

New York Times, May 2020 (click for more info)

Pregnancy

Gestation crates (wikipedia)

By Alisha Vargas from Reno, NV, US - Piglets Nursing,
 CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6498410

       

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Beef Cattle

Animal welfare ssues

1. castration, branding, dehorning  
2. live on range until 8 months, BUT at feedlot for several months
3. corn diet, antibiotics, hormones to promote quick weight gain

More info:  Power Steer (Michael Pollan, NYT)

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Dairy Cows

Animal welfare issues

1. cows impregnated once a year (artificial insemination)
2. separated from calf after a few weeks (see calf hutches here) 
3. BST (increases milk production), mastitis
4. What happens to the males? (read about sexed semen) 

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Broiler Chickens (for meat)

Animal welfare issues

1. crowding (20,000 per barn) 
2. debeaking, ammonia fumes
3. collapsing under own weight
4. very short lives (5-7 weeks vs. many years)  

poultry farm images

Farm sanctuary

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Laying Hens (for eggs)

Issues

1. crowding (each chicken has less space than a piece of typing paper) 
2. debeaking
3. male chicks immediately killed 
4. short lives

Glass Walls (PETA) -- watch 1:51 - 3:30

Wikipedia, poultry farming

Looking down into a dumpster - discarded male chicks

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Slaughter

        Slaughter of pigs, cattle (USDA regulated) -

• Rough handling 
• Transported on hot, crowded trucks
• Animals shot in head with stun gun, lose consciousness (ideally)
• Hoisted upside-down, throats slit
• Animals killed at a rate of 400 per hour
• Temple Grandin reforms: more auditing, curved chute

Slaughter of chickens (minimally regulated)

• thrown on trucks, long trip, no water
• shackled upside down, dragged through electrified water, throats slit

Animals as food (reforms & humane farming)

REFORMS 

California

Proposition 2 (California, 2008) each animal must have enough room to turn around 

Proposition 12 (California) - stipulates square feet, prohibits sale of products that don't comply, even if animals raised in other states, all laying hens cage-free

Gestational stalls/crates 

Gestational stalls banned (but not farrowing stalls)

• States that now prohibit: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Rhode Island (wikipedia)
• But what are the big pork-producing states? 
• Smithfield farms (huge pork producers) phasing out


• see video below
• Humane Society sues; says they're misleading consumers;  more here
• Note: the video says the sows spend 23 weeks/year in group housing (so 29 in stalls).

• McDonalds phasing out gestational crates  

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HUMANE FARMING 

Pigs

• Niman ranch

 

Laying hens

• Vital Farms Eggs  (lo ranch) -- pastured raised

Multiple species

• Polyface Farm (Follow link, scroll down, watch video)
• Shorter video (best one to watch)

Slaughter

• USDA rules: pigs and cows must be sent to regulated slaughter houses
• Chickens can be killed locally
• Killing chickens at Polyface

Availability, cost, labelling

• Whole Foods

Review for Midterm

 ADVICE

Use the study guide! (at tab above)

OVERVIEW

1. Module 1 -- moral status of animals --Aristotle, Bible, Singer, Regan, Carruthers
2. Module 2 -- animal minds, animal deaths -- pain, pleasure, morality, self-awareness, time travel, death -- Yong, Balcombe, DeWaal, McMahan
3. Module 3 -- animals and society -- Donaldson & Kymlicka (D&K)

BASICS

1. What is meant by "moral status" and "moral standing"?
2. What is an animalist? Why are these all animalists: Singer, Regan, D&K
3. The non-animalists: Bible, Aristotle, Kant, Carruthers
4. What is sentience? What is a "subject of a life"?
5. What are "marginal cases"?
6. What's the difference between saying animals are our equals (Singer) and saying they have rights (Regan)?
7. What is Utilitarianism? 
8. What is Contractualism? 
9. Other basics?

TRICKY TOPICS

1. Aristotle & Bible: mixed views, they defend meat-eating but not cruelty
2. Kant: I have no duties to animals but I should be kind to my old dog. Is this contradictory?
3. Singer: principle of equality vs. Utilitarianism
4. Regan: argument for rights
5. Carruthers: why marginal cases do have rights but animals don't.
6. Carruthers: Astrid the astronaut
7. Animal minds: nociception, feeling of pain, time travel, episodic memory, rudimentary morality
8. McMahan: "time relative interest in continuing to live" & 8 reasons why humans have stronger TRICL
9. D&K: political categories, not mental categories; equal basic rights
10. D&K: the rights and responsibilities of animal citizens (no simple human-> animal extension)
11. Others?

Debate 3

 Announcements

1. Use the midterm review guide above!
2. Please think about what you want to review on Wednesday--we'll spend the whole class reviewing.
3. Want to ask more questions? 
• Come to office hours after class Wednesday (2-2:30)
• Stay after class today and make an appoint if that time doesn't work.
4. Fair group--still need 2 to attend the rodeo at the fair.

Debate workbook

Where cats and dogs belong

The status quo

• D&K p. 126
• pets are private property and/or children
• they should be considered "animal citizens" and should have access to public places

Dallas pet laws

• "loose" cats and dogs not permitted
• exception: registered feral cat colony (SMU has one!)
• Operation Kindness--better to keep cat entirely indoors 
• have to be spayed/neutered (with exceptions)

What would D&K's proposal look like?

• Istanbul, Turkey (15 million people, most populous city in Europe)
• Cat movie: Kedi (0-18, 48:20-56:26) -- at amazon prime and elsewhere
• Dog movie: Stray

The Istanbul model

• cats not "mine" in the sense of property or a child
• they are at liberty to come and go
• they are not feral--they are tame and cared for (food, vet care)
• current controversy--President Erdogan proposes banning stray dogs

More issues

• cats eating mice, rats, rabbits, swallows (denizens)
• cats eating birds (wild sovereigns)
• What might D&K say?
• Some other perspectives (for outside cats and against)

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More places where animals have more access to public spaces

Sheep in England

Nat Geo article about cows in India

NYT article about animal cafes in South Korea

Animal citizens (and denizens and wild sovereigns)

Coming up

• Friday 10/11: background for debate, midterm guide available
• Monday 10/14: debate
• Wednesday 10/16: review for midterm
• Friday 10/18: midterm
• Monday  10/21: Module 4, using animals for food, research, etc.
• Friday 10/25: first field trip discussion (vegan restaurants, whole foods)
• Monday 11/13: Module 5, wild animals 

Field trips 

Canvas page

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Putting animals in political categories

recap

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Animal citizens--first class members of our community

Which animals?  All the domesticated animals--dogs cats, farm animals (there will be vastly fewer farm animals)

Why are they citizens?

1. We brought them here, we made them dependent on us, they can't live separately
2. Domesticated animals are capable of cooperation and interaction
3. If it was wrong to make dogs and cats dependent, should we just set them free or let them go extinct?  (Gary Francione--we will discuss in module 4)

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What are the rights and responsibilities of animal citizens? (p. 5)

Rights

1. 
   

1. No voting for animals, no passports
2. "Equal protection of the law (and hence criminalization of harms to them)"
3. Emergency services (rescue from fire, floods)
4. They should "benefit from public spending (e.g.health care)"
5. Should "have their "interests weighed in the design of public space and institutions" (e.g. dog parks, "relief" facilities at airports)
6. Should have access to public spaces

• restaurants? (Paris, below)
• animal cafes? (South Korea)
• cats of istanbul
• cows of India

Possible debate topic: Should pets in the US have more access to public space, as in other countries?

• Next time: background about access to public space in other countries plus other relevant issues

Responsibilities of animal citizens

1. They should be socialized to live in a mixed community--no "jumping, biting, barking, defecating" (p. 6)
2. They should do non-exploitative work

• contribute manure YES
• goats mowing lawn YES
• sheep for wool if shorn humanely   YES
• keeping chickens for eggs MAYBE
• using animals as guide dogs (video clip) NO

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Wild animal sovereigns

1. Don't exist because of us, competent to take care of themselves
   
2. Overlapping borders--some wild animal sovereigns are inside the US
3. Wild sovereigns have the basic rights all animals have – so no hunting, trapping
4. Not citizens or denizens
• no right to be rescued after a disaster
• no right to be in our public spaces (polar bear jail in Churchill, Canada)

5. We should respect their sovereignty, competence
• should avoid invading habitat, but when you do take away habitat, create wildlife corridors
• shouldn't alter their way of life even if it seems protective
• one-off assistance ok

Module 5: wild animals in wilderness. We will discuss this and other views on how to treat wildlife.

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Liminal animal denizens

1. Two principles that apply to human denizens (p. 14)
• Principle #1: legit to have borders and laws about who enters; also legit to discourage entry
• Principle #2: "sooner or later they acquire the right to stay" (p. 14)
2. Application to aiminal animal denizens
• Principle #1: we can try to keep them out
• Principle #2: "we need to regularize their status, and to accept and accommodate to their presence" (p. 14) 
3. Example of mice
1. try to keep out: plug holes in walls to keep mice out, avoid open food, use humane traps and remove
2. accept and accommodate: what's wrong with a few in the cellar or garage or garden shed?

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Debate topics 

Possible debate question: Are all animals equal or do they fall into importantly different political categories, as D&K say?

Possible debate question: Should pets in the US have more access to public space, as in other countries?

Animal Categories

Announcements:

1. This class is cancelled Friday 10/4
2. No SMU classes Monday 10/7

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Module 3: Animals and society

Sue Donaldson & Will Kymlicka, Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights (2011)

• "zoopolis" means animal city

Individualistic animal ethics--our obligations to animals depend on each individual animal's "intrinsic moral standing" (D&K p. 1).

1. Peter Singer--Does this individual have interests? If so they count equally--based on the seriousness of the interest, not the identity of the interest-owner.
2. Tom Regan--is this animal a subject of a life, with inherent value and rights? (AR theory)

Political approach to animal ethics

1. Intrinsic moral standing does matter--they support AR theory
2. But political status matters too--our obligations depend partly on an animal's relationship to our political community

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Political status, starting with the human case

Picture people who get off a plane

Passport control at DFW
international terminal

They all have  the same rights based on "intrinsic moral standing" (p. 1) – enshrined in Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

1. right to life
2. right to liberty
3. we can't torture or enslave any of them!

They hae different rights based on "relationship to a particular political community" (p. 2)

1. Citizens of the US
• right to enter the US
• right to work here
• right to have their interests represented by government
• right to vote
• right to have access to public spaces (can go there, signs are in your language)
• right to emergency health care
2. In-betweens: "tourists, foreign students, refugee claimants, business visitors or temporary workers" (p. 2). Other in-betweens: undocumented immigrants 
• have all the rights based on "intrinsic moral standing" 
• don't have all of the rights of citizens, but have some
• lose some rights they had in home country 
3. Foreign Nationals--citizens of other countries, living elsewhere
• have set of rights established in other nation

What should we do about the problems of Xs?  Need to know whether the Xs are citizens in-betweens, or foreign nationals.

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D&K say animals are in parallel categories 

1. Animal Citizens -- domesticated animals living with us---we created them, made then helpless and dependent--they are suited to close relationships with us---cats and dogs, farm animals
2. Animal Denizens  -- animals drawn to us but not living with us--not helpless and dependent, not close because we made them that way--squirrels, rats, mice, raccoons, ducks, geese, chimney swifts, swallows
3. Animal wild sovereigns --  live independently in wilderness (inside our borders or outside)--competent to take care of themselves

Note: D&K's political categories are NOT mental capacity based.  They don't subscribe to this kind of hierarchical view:

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Brother Wolf Animal Rescue,
Ashville North Carolina

Application 1: What should we do for animals after/before a natural disaster (Hurricanes Helene, Milton)

1. D&K--should consider interests and rights BUT ALSO political category
• Is it a stray dog--basically a member of our community?
• Is it a mouse, raccoon or swallow--dependent because of its own choices?
• Is it an eagle--competent to take care of itself?
2. Singer--equal interests should receive equal consideration
3. Regan--rights are equal

Possible debate question: Are all animals equal or do they fall into importantly different political categories, as D&K say?